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Righteousness of God, you are, but wait a minute! Caleb too was very excited when the preacher said to him, "Caleb, you are the righteousness of God." Instantly, he felt he needed nothing more, he did not waste anytime but went straight out and expended the pleasure of the new revelation. "I'm awesome!" He began to proclaim. "I'm supercool, no freckles dude. I'm the best, I complement God. Feel me bro?" And all sort of exciting words came out of his mouth. However, I ended his jubilation when I told him that what he believed was incomplete. "How so?" He asked.
"If the purpose or function, benefit, and value of something is unknown or not clear, misuse and/or abuse of it is inevitable." That's how I began my response. "Take for example," I continued, "You gave a two-year old a dead cockroach, if you did not tell him that cockroaches are to be smashed, trampled upon, then thrown away, and after telling him that, you did not quickly take it away from him, he will put it in his mouth. For kids, everything goes into the mouth. Likewise," I continued, "If you gave this same kid a loaded gun, as soon as he gets his finger on the trigger, he's undoubtedly going to squeeze it and put it straight in his mouth, or worst, he'll direct it towards you." Then I drew my conclusion by saying, "Three things must be known about something to prevent its misuse or abuse: its function/purpose, value and benefit. And by the way, you never complemented God, He is the one Who complemented you through Christ Jesus."
Careful there, I never said Caleb was wrong for claiming that he was the righteousness of God, I'm only pointing out that his statement was incomplete. If it was complete, he wouldn't take it the way he did. 2 Corinthians 5:21 closes with these words "in him." It states that we are the 'righteousness of God in him (Christ Jesus).' This ought to humble us. We are nothing without, that is outside, of Christ Jesus. But in Him, we are more than something, we are the righteousness of God.
The purpose of us being made righteous is not for us to be supercool, to see something wrong with freckles and feel like we've complemented God. It's for us to be able to represent God fully well to the world without the littlest cloud of condemnation hanging over our heads. That is why it's so important for us to understand that we are surely the righteousness of God. Knowing that we're righteous ONLY in Christ Jesus, is however, paramount, because it'll keep us humble and help us know that all we are and everything we have, we owe it to Jesus Christ, without Whom we are nothing. The only valuable thing about me is Christ in me! Through Him and in Him, I am not only made complete, I become the righteousness of God.
Please leave your comments and let me know what you got out of this and anything else that could be added, adjusted or removed. Thanks.
"If the purpose or function, benefit, and value of something is unknown or not clear, misuse and/or abuse of it is inevitable." That's how I began my response. "Take for example," I continued, "You gave a two-year old a dead cockroach, if you did not tell him that cockroaches are to be smashed, trampled upon, then thrown away, and after telling him that, you did not quickly take it away from him, he will put it in his mouth. For kids, everything goes into the mouth. Likewise," I continued, "If you gave this same kid a loaded gun, as soon as he gets his finger on the trigger, he's undoubtedly going to squeeze it and put it straight in his mouth, or worst, he'll direct it towards you." Then I drew my conclusion by saying, "Three things must be known about something to prevent its misuse or abuse: its function/purpose, value and benefit. And by the way, you never complemented God, He is the one Who complemented you through Christ Jesus."
Careful there, I never said Caleb was wrong for claiming that he was the righteousness of God, I'm only pointing out that his statement was incomplete. If it was complete, he wouldn't take it the way he did. 2 Corinthians 5:21 closes with these words "in him." It states that we are the 'righteousness of God in him (Christ Jesus).' This ought to humble us. We are nothing without, that is outside, of Christ Jesus. But in Him, we are more than something, we are the righteousness of God.
The purpose of us being made righteous is not for us to be supercool, to see something wrong with freckles and feel like we've complemented God. It's for us to be able to represent God fully well to the world without the littlest cloud of condemnation hanging over our heads. That is why it's so important for us to understand that we are surely the righteousness of God. Knowing that we're righteous ONLY in Christ Jesus, is however, paramount, because it'll keep us humble and help us know that all we are and everything we have, we owe it to Jesus Christ, without Whom we are nothing. The only valuable thing about me is Christ in me! Through Him and in Him, I am not only made complete, I become the righteousness of God.
Please leave your comments and let me know what you got out of this and anything else that could be added, adjusted or removed. Thanks.
